In a production process of an electronic device, such as an IC device, a testing apparatus is necessary for testing a finally produced electronic device. In such a testing apparatus, IC devices to be tested are conveyed to sockets on a test head and a test is conducted by attaching the IC devices to the sockets and bringing them to be electrically connected. IC devices are tested as above and categorized at least into good ones and defective ones.
The above test head generally comprises a test head body, wherein a signal module for processing signals is held, and a test section unit provided to the test head body.
A test section unit 400 of the related art comprises, as shown in FIGS. 4(a)-4(c) and FIG. 5, a plurality of socket boards 420 provided with a plurality of sockets 410, a performance board (PB) 430, a sub board 440 for electrically connecting the socket boards 420 and the performance board 430 and mounted with a variety of peripheral circuits, and an interface member (not shown in the figures) such as a Hifix provided between the performance board 430 and the test head body to connect the two electrically.
Note that the performance board 430 comprises a performance board plate (PB plate) 431, a performance board stiffener (PB stiffener) 432 and a performance board connector (PB connector) 433, and the PB connector 433 engages with a connector of the Hifix.
An upper end connector 441 of the sub board 440 is engaged with a connector (not shown in the figures) of the socket board 420, and a lower end connector 442 of the sub board 440 is engaged with a connector (not shown in the figures) of the performance board 430. Namely, the sub board 440 fits in the upper and lower connectors so as to be provided upright in the vertical direction with respect to the socket board 420 and the performance board 430.
However, since the test section unit 400 of the related art comprises a plurality of socket boards 420 and the performance board 430, the mechanical structure is disadvantageously complex. Also, a transmission line path between the sockets 410 (electronic devices to be tested) and the peripheral circuits on the sub board 440 is long and, moreover, the socket boards 420 are divided to two or more; so that electric characteristics, such as high frequency transmission and a current capacity, are not always favorable. Furthermore, a size of the sub board 440 to be provided upright vertically with respect to the socket boards 420 and the performance board 430 is limited due to the structure of the handler and the number of sub boards 440 cannot be increased easily, as well. Therefore, it is difficult to increase a mounting area of the peripheral circuits (circuit area).